In the squawked pigeonn English of Kali the foul-mouthed pigeon, "you will see me do sumfinng!" with my next record.
I'm using basic recording tech and also some resampling. I plan to integrate speckled live sounds across tracks, with software intervention. Sample manipulations.
The result will be a development on "Neurondisiac" project, in terms of stylistic density. Software "and" hardware. A real blend.
I have a track right now that is resampling audio from my flagship cheap analog keyboard, the Casio CTK (available in Argos 8 years ago), which puts analog Clavichord and Warm Pad presets through electronic Crystal Reverb, the filters of my hardware, and the reverb module built in to the synth. It's basically a remix of "Blue And Reflected Instrumental" with the FX used, and the way it sounds. Really pleased with it.
Ed: here you go...
1- Blue, Reflected, 2020 Mix
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/fl-blue-and-reflected-2020-remix
2- Disco Cravings
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/patho-disco-cravings
3- You Beauty
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/fl-you-beauty-21032020
4- Buttercup Fields
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/fl-buttercup-fields
5- Curry Aperitif
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/curry-aperitif
6- As Lossless As Breathing
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/fl-as-lossless-as-breathing
7 - The Fate Of The Idle Randomite
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/longformacus-the-fate-of-the-idle-randomite
The March 2020 Foci's Left LP - Blue, Reflected Variations (Unsigned)
Cataloguing notable progress of www.subvertcentral.com, with interviews, mixtapes and topical reports.
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Showing posts with label Ambient. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ambient. Show all posts
Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Saturday, 23 February 2019
SubVersion Stop 322: FTAL - For The Ambient Lovers Winter Digest 2018
Hey Ambient lovers and newcomers,
What is ambient music? Music as ignorable as it is interesting, if you're Brian Eno. Sound that fills the gaps between somatic timbre, if you're me.
Living and breathing, heating and huddling, all these kind of things come into play for listenership.
Here are a few records from 2018 that I overlooked that have cropped up in my private registry.
To the top - Thursday 2nd May, start of Spring time proper
...Brings with it a good deal. Dennis Huddleston, the man behind the 36 (www.3six.bandcamp.com) moniker, is using Groupees website (sign up by email) today to sell off his entire digital and physical catalogue. With exclusive items, rare tapes and signed test presses from Ryan ASIP, all funds go towards the Crohns and Colitis UK Foundation charity. For: just $12 or offer price separately!
Definitely sounds like a good deal. Take advantage, yo.
On Eilean Rec
What is ambient music? Music as ignorable as it is interesting, if you're Brian Eno. Sound that fills the gaps between somatic timbre, if you're me.
Living and breathing, heating and huddling, all these kind of things come into play for listenership.
Here are a few records from 2018 that I overlooked that have cropped up in my private registry.
To the top - Thursday 2nd May, start of Spring time proper
...Brings with it a good deal. Dennis Huddleston, the man behind the 36 (www.3six.bandcamp.com) moniker, is using Groupees website (sign up by email) today to sell off his entire digital and physical catalogue. With exclusive items, rare tapes and signed test presses from Ryan ASIP, all funds go towards the Crohns and Colitis UK Foundation charity. For: just $12 or offer price separately!
Definitely sounds like a good deal. Take advantage, yo.
On Eilean Rec
Oh, the ever reliable eilean rec. Unlike Jeremy Corbyn, they are a powerful and clear winner.
Leigh Toro's latest, "The Eternal Navigation", released in September 2018, and "Silfra" by Dronavinile, or similar artist (at least I remember the title because it's in front of me, ha) should be investigated immediately. Opinions are irrelevant here, I'm sticking to recos, IIKI Books next.
On Constellation Tatsu
4 new releases on 26th Feb. Curved Light sounds very good.
On Simon James French BC Sublet
Some rather extraordinarily beautiful, eviscerating soft sounds from Derive Soundscapes Episode 2 here, the creator of 2010's "Misery" ambient masterpiece. Equally melodic, this stuff is heavily subdued, dreamy without dissonance, and big on reverb and delay trails, with a hardware sound. Rather analogue, gluing itself to your ears like well-tacked bands in big concert rooms.
I actually had to purchase this one and download it - it's so good! Well worth supporting.
On Foci Left
Longformacus sees a Droneworks Vol. II release, a collection of soft and dark ambient beds.
On Constellation Tatsu
4 new releases on 26th Feb. Curved Light sounds very good.
On Simon James French BC Sublet
Some rather extraordinarily beautiful, eviscerating soft sounds from Derive Soundscapes Episode 2 here, the creator of 2010's "Misery" ambient masterpiece. Equally melodic, this stuff is heavily subdued, dreamy without dissonance, and big on reverb and delay trails, with a hardware sound. Rather analogue, gluing itself to your ears like well-tacked bands in big concert rooms.
I actually had to purchase this one and download it - it's so good! Well worth supporting.
On Foci Left
Longformacus sees a Droneworks Vol. II release, a collection of soft and dark ambient beds.
In this chronology post, where you follow me with top-down scrolling updates for what's next like TDD then Facebuke, the ultimate aim is to present choices for inquisitive listeners, as well as broaden my horizons, getting away from the looming 250k plus viewed "black wall" of subvert FTAL.
It can be depressing viewing black text environments that are like the festering corners of the web.
In addition you can end up attracting some crazy misunderstandings about where you stand. Like I do.
Anyways, here's some of the lesser sung things that happened partially ignorably in Winter 2018. :)
Sunday, 27 August 2017
289: Pseud's Corner
The preservation of an idea, musically, succeeds, for me at least, when it has become ambient music, with leaning to the flagship phrase "ignorable as it is interesting" counterbalanced with the thought that, when I listen to music, "it doesn't really matter". That means, basically, that it's an aperitif, not a main meal in the spice list of life.
Do you agree?
Do you agree?
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
283: FR Retrograde Reviews - Mick Buckingham - Chihei Hatakeyama - Mirage (Room40, Kranky)
Chihei Hatakeyama, after a healthy decades good exposure in the ambient field as a torchbearer of peaceful drones and sibilance should he strike the strings of his delayed electric guitar, presents “Mirage”, an album in the vein of classics like “Saunter” from 2003 and “Light Drizzle” from 2009. Generally focussing on the possibilities of decay trails, Mirage moves with an unearthly abandon. Field recordings of industrial action and children’s play recalls Chris Dooks, while the ambience is alike to Tom Honey’s Gòod Weather For An Airstrike project.
A summary does never do Chihei Hatakeyama due justice. For all this time I have spent collecting his albums, since his major label releases (Room40, Hibernate, Nomadic Kids Republic I believe were sent demos when BVDub picked up the wings of underexposed drone exports and jet-packed them into real ambient consciousness). Wherever you picked up on Chihei – maybe even as mainstream as Wire magazine and Fluid Radio on the web...I have to assert he’s one of my top 10 droners. That list includes big names like Hakobune, Liz Harris (Grouper), Oophoi, Steve Roach, Stars Of The Lid, Simon Scott (Slowdive), Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Hammock...mmmhmmm...some of my fave “others”.
Opening with the bereft breath of “Sad Ocean”, one immediately realises this is simply breath taking music set to scenic views of ambient scenes. Car windows being opened; cool breezes blowing in; or an early morning 5am walk. Thus quality is athletic styled lather, and the soft emotional heft is rendered like real leather interior design, here lies the elasticity principle of Chihei’s sound. What is supple and you get lost in it just as you would the focus of this sentence if it curved into discussion about fabric only. I’m to question how this music collection is so important that it will soundtrack my entire life comfortably. And it does, it will, it can. This sense of comfort and familiarity one feels when taking a listen to these serene wafts of new ago atmosphere is the opposite of new age kitsch.
The answer to why “Mirage” works so well, lies in a somatic response slowness yet paradoxical freedom. Attitudinal its an escape from life’s stasis field – take the lighthouse beacon sound of “Starlight And Black Echo”. Chihei sounds like he was searching deep within when making this. The strange echoing surfeit calms the nerves and puts pay to the hauntological idea of our memories being captured and left to bounce between the speaker system. Like ghost code, it is an aural monologue...is that the meaning of the mirage, we wonder? Pulsing tones reach a refrain then ebb away into comparable dark matter. It is time to see the light, the gut feeling, the mirror; of really belonging.
Indeed this is an lp conjuring mainly lighter shades on the colour wheel of life. With a fine Eton Mess of strawberry creamed texture cranking the cooker DC until the electronics have buttered us up completely, “Distant Steam Train Whistle” introduces a atmospheric harpsichord to lay the table and create a conversation portal for less hazy, more smoky guitar. The whole thing stands up to criticism of going on too long, as to me about an hour is the perfect length for a drone fest. Given the subtle placations throughout, it is amazing the music sounds so peaceful. I’m truly in awe of its warmth.
When I consider drone benchmarks, I think Budd & Eno – The Pearl is comparable here. Nothing borders on creating non-environmental tuning – the music is subtly weaved, controlled, and never totally knockout visceral. The pastoral essence is bottled and releases in places like a effectively placed land mine...a gaseous land mind, excellently perfumed and fighting the bad odour of cheap petrol-heavy streets where everything gets recorded (unless Chihei really lives far out). Indeed, if made in the 60s, hippies would be getting high around a bong to sounds contained here.
With most of the morass a lost-phase, a haze-dream, a bushy-nature-reserve of ambient logic, the ambience throughout “Mirage” is ripe when viewed through the first year psychology topic of reverse psychology. Why is this? Because the drones are: dense, thick, organic, unfiltered, healthy and extremely nutritious in the context of the drone music lovers palette. Like the aforementioned comparison of Tom Honey’s work, “Anatolia Mirage” hums a short poem of tones – tone poetry, a melodic haiku, with drones that are rather not long-winded, instead they are carried by the wind.
The a plus transcendental introspection created by the soliptic stress-straining slipstreams cajoles the listener’s expectations like kale being filtered through a sieve. Or pillows before bedtime laid out for a siesta or long snooze. Perfect for night and day time, but cornerstone logic is for weightless contexts, in a nutshell. There needs to be music like this made, for certain. I would not mind betting Hatakeyama has a third life from production and field recording for nature program music.
If there is any weakness of “Mirage”, it is as such that it is not very energising. Some would say it is too samey. To me though, when you have mood music as classy as this, sideswipes like that become irrelevancies. It becomes meaningless. When the music is this inspiring and meaningful, on the other hand, your perspective changes. The little man in your head vanishes. At least it does mine. I’m tired of half-assed critics who don’t know what a good opus sounds like. Mark my words, there is no way any educated listener of taste could describe this music as bland.
May we see more fantastic mirages from Japanese artist Chihei in future. The lps on the Kranky repped Room40 imprint after all – it had to be something special. This to me is Chihei Hatakeyama’s most realised work to date – never disappointing, never ghostly...this time, the mirage is permanent.
Tuesday, 9 May 2017
SubVersion Stop 275: SV Recommends Ambientblog Headphone Commute Endorsed Mix
Bit of a mouthful, that title, isn't it? But it's all relevant. SubVersion Ambientblog and Headphone Commute are all ambient publicising blogs. I'm recommending this new "DreamScenes" series mix from Ambientblog, published also on Headphone Commute, and it's a cracker. A real stayer mentally
I cannot link you PvC's kindly provided MixCloud widget, as my blog doesn't allow that. So what I can do instead, is provide you the post I found it from, sent to my email address for press after 7pm.
I cannot link you PvC's kindly provided MixCloud widget, as my blog doesn't allow that. So what I can do instead, is provide you the post I found it from, sent to my email address for press after 7pm.
New show by ambientblog
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Saturday, 19 March 2016
SubVersion Stop 264: Creating DreamScenes
What is Dreamscenes?
DreamScenes is a ‘subset’ of Ambientblog.net (http://www.ambientblog.net
), but is was also the name of one of my first mixes.
Ambientblog features short ‘reviews’, but the true heart of it are the ambientblog mixes that you can find there (and which are also featured on the USB).
DreamScenes originally was a 4 hour mix that was created for Dutch National Radio in 2001 (can you believe they actually broadcasted a 4 hr mix uninterrupted on a Sunday Evening?)
Over the years between 2000 and 2009, I created this kind of mixes for Dutch public radio NPS/VPRO on a regular basis. When the radio shows were cancelled in 2009, I continued to publish mixes on Ambientblog.net, there are over 60 now.
(Of course Ambientblog also presents short reviews that I prefer to call recommendations, since I do not pretend to be a music journalist and do not write extensive analyses)
The Ambientblog mixes characteristically are rather complex: they are not ‘mixtapes’ featuring full tracks, but a collage of mostly short fragments that are layered in such a way that the music may get a different connotation.
To me, they often feel like a movie soundtrack.
(Link to these mixes: http://www.ambientmix.net )
Since these mixes take quite a lot of work to create, there are not many of them – about 4 a year on average.
But there is such a lot of great music released that I started to miss the radio shows that I was involved in. These shows simply presented the music, not in complex mixes but in ‘head-tail’ sequences, presenting full tracks in one continuous flow without spoken introduction inbetween. These are more like ‘mixtapes’ in the classic sense. They are much easier to create than the Ambientblog collages, though I still pay much attention to the sequencing of the tracks, which should feel natural from beginning to end while at the same time including different varieties of ambient/electronic/experimental music.
This became a monthly Mixcloud series called DreamScenes (http://www.mixcloud.com/dreamscenes).
So… in fact it depends what exactly you are referring to with DreamScenes. Are you talking about the Ambientblog mixes (that are on the USB too), or about the Mixcloud series? They are quite different in nature, though they both cover the same kind of music.
(Short fact: Ambientblog was originally called DreamScenes, named after the original mix. But at the time it was also the name of some kind of animated video wallpapers and that was rather confusing in the Google search results.. So when I decided to intensify the blog in 2009, it was renamed to Ambientblog)
What working method do you use to create the sets? Dave Michuda who we both know at Low Light Mixes for example picks some tunes by their titles. Whereas me I'll usually go with a overarching working title?
Ambientblog features short ‘reviews’, but the true heart of it are the ambientblog mixes that you can find there (and which are also featured on the USB).
DreamScenes originally was a 4 hour mix that was created for Dutch National Radio in 2001 (can you believe they actually broadcasted a 4 hr mix uninterrupted on a Sunday Evening?)
Over the years between 2000 and 2009, I created this kind of mixes for Dutch public radio NPS/VPRO on a regular basis. When the radio shows were cancelled in 2009, I continued to publish mixes on Ambientblog.net, there are over 60 now.
(Of course Ambientblog also presents short reviews that I prefer to call recommendations, since I do not pretend to be a music journalist and do not write extensive analyses)
The Ambientblog mixes characteristically are rather complex: they are not ‘mixtapes’ featuring full tracks, but a collage of mostly short fragments that are layered in such a way that the music may get a different connotation.
To me, they often feel like a movie soundtrack.
(Link to these mixes: http://www.ambientmix.net )
Since these mixes take quite a lot of work to create, there are not many of them – about 4 a year on average.
But there is such a lot of great music released that I started to miss the radio shows that I was involved in. These shows simply presented the music, not in complex mixes but in ‘head-tail’ sequences, presenting full tracks in one continuous flow without spoken introduction inbetween. These are more like ‘mixtapes’ in the classic sense. They are much easier to create than the Ambientblog collages, though I still pay much attention to the sequencing of the tracks, which should feel natural from beginning to end while at the same time including different varieties of ambient/electronic/experimental music.
This became a monthly Mixcloud series called DreamScenes (http://www.mixcloud.com/dreamscenes).
So… in fact it depends what exactly you are referring to with DreamScenes. Are you talking about the Ambientblog mixes (that are on the USB too), or about the Mixcloud series? They are quite different in nature, though they both cover the same kind of music.
(Short fact: Ambientblog was originally called DreamScenes, named after the original mix. But at the time it was also the name of some kind of animated video wallpapers and that was rather confusing in the Google search results.. So when I decided to intensify the blog in 2009, it was renamed to Ambientblog)
What working method do you use to create the sets? Dave Michuda who we both know at Low Light Mixes for example picks some tunes by their titles. Whereas me I'll usually go with a overarching working title?
For this, I assume you’re talking about the ambientblog mixes.
I don’t usually begin with a fixed idea. I start out with sorting a collection of tracks by their nature: dark, light, acoustic, electronic, effects, fieldrecs, and ‘anchors’ (I mean more melodic pieces which may bring you back to reality a bit, to avoid drifting too far off)
Then I search for an opening track that feels like a good start. From there, it is really like creating a ‘collage’, searching for fragments that match, or that bring some kind of tension, to build further on the preceding fragments. From there it seems the music selects itself even though that sounds a bit cheesy. I try to keep a certain kind of storytelling flow, balancing ‘light’ with ‘dark’.. I always feel there should be a kind of tension to keep it exciting enough, the mixes usually aren’t the kind of sounds you would use in a Reiki or Yoga of whatever kind of New Agelike session. I like it when some parts become almost frightening. But even though I don’t usually choose it on purpose, the mixes usually end with a hopeful – although often melancholic – note.
The title usually comes up when the mix is finished. Often it is inspired by one of the tracks included.
The human psyche tends to look for correlations, so when the title fits the music, the music will also fit the title….
There are exceptions, however: the ‘Hum in the Room’ trilogy was created around that theme, using the Philip Glass track ‘Changing Opinion’ as a starting point. So in that case there was a concept from the start.
What software have you used to create Dreamscenes sets in the past? For example, I've used Acoustica (Hydrogen Cafe) Mix craft (Michuda) and Ableton (several).
I don’t usually begin with a fixed idea. I start out with sorting a collection of tracks by their nature: dark, light, acoustic, electronic, effects, fieldrecs, and ‘anchors’ (I mean more melodic pieces which may bring you back to reality a bit, to avoid drifting too far off)
Then I search for an opening track that feels like a good start. From there, it is really like creating a ‘collage’, searching for fragments that match, or that bring some kind of tension, to build further on the preceding fragments. From there it seems the music selects itself even though that sounds a bit cheesy. I try to keep a certain kind of storytelling flow, balancing ‘light’ with ‘dark’.. I always feel there should be a kind of tension to keep it exciting enough, the mixes usually aren’t the kind of sounds you would use in a Reiki or Yoga of whatever kind of New Agelike session. I like it when some parts become almost frightening. But even though I don’t usually choose it on purpose, the mixes usually end with a hopeful – although often melancholic – note.
The title usually comes up when the mix is finished. Often it is inspired by one of the tracks included.
The human psyche tends to look for correlations, so when the title fits the music, the music will also fit the title….
There are exceptions, however: the ‘Hum in the Room’ trilogy was created around that theme, using the Philip Glass track ‘Changing Opinion’ as a starting point. So in that case there was a concept from the start.
What software have you used to create Dreamscenes sets in the past? For example, I've used Acoustica (Hydrogen Cafe) Mix craft (Michuda) and Ableton (several).
I
work with Adobe Audition. That’s it. The basic multitrack
setting. Though I cut longer tracks to pieces and sometimes use only
outrageous short fragments, I always use the original (stereo) mix and
no extra effects are applied.
Apart from volume levelling to match the other tracks of course. (And L/R-C-Ls/Rs placement in the case of the surround versions). And a lot of long fades.
Apart from volume levelling to match the other tracks of course. (And L/R-C-Ls/Rs placement in the case of the surround versions). And a lot of long fades.
-
Special thanks to PvC (Peter Van Cooten) for this introductory interview to what creates his dream scenes in sound and music. He has limited copies of the www.ambientblog.net USB stick, featuring over 30 tracks from commissioned producers from the ambient scene, and his collection of not-for-profit mixes on www.bandcamp.com. :)
Thursday, 14 January 2016
SubVersion Stop 260: Xmas Charts from Muttley Statto & MetaLX...
SubVersion End Of Year Chart from Muttley (http://www.focisleft.bandcamp.com / http://www.twitter.com/MuttleySV, http://www.kapsil.net/muttley, http://www.facebook.com/muttley.subversion.3, http://www.subvertcentral.blogspot.co.uk, http://www.mixcloud.com, www.souncloud.com/subversion-2, http://www.nightshiftmag.co.uk writing, http://www.fluid-radio.co.uk writing).
A lot can happen in a year...I found love within myself. I released albums with good reviews. I bought lots of mind-scultping records. I delightedly changed my accommodation with help of the local mental health services. And I realised, all along the way, that I didn't have to go anywhere - the party moves with the indivisual.
01. Favourite track: Run close by Tamaryn - Sugar Fix, Little Red - The Huntsman, Kid Moxie - Mysteries Of Love (feat. Angelo Badalementi), and Marina & The Diamonds - Gold, and finally, Markus Guetner - Magnetar (A Strangely Isolated Place vinyl, like our space station, frankly)...
02. My album of the year is Bjork - Vulnicura, followed by Bat For Lashes - Sexwitch, then Kid Moxie - 1888, then Tamaryn - Cranekiss. David Borden - Music For Amplified Keyboard Instruments, Marina Diamandis - Froot. Of my own solo LPs, it's Nothing, Early Riser (released at Rapture, Witney, Oxon UK today), What I Think - Right Bus Of The Psyche, or LUV. All my releases are available at www.focisleft.bandcamp.com.
03. Favourite label: Low Point. Bought their entire discography (32 + digital releases, subscribe to their newsletter, they have 2 new tapes from Kogumaza today - it's Hardwick's label) on Bandcamp this Autumn. Kyle Bobby Dunn, Gareth Hardwick, Lviv, P Jorgesen, Ex-Easter Island Head, Apalusa. So many more. Absolute goldmine catalog if you love minimalist ambient and drone.
04. Favourite mixtape: Foci's Left - Any And All Things - Live @ GTI, Sep 26th 2015 (Live improvised mixset, first electronics gig conscious). Fixated for 15 years in 34 minutes.
05. Favourite book: Emotioanal Intelligence And Understanding Emotional Intelligence: Daniel Goleman, pbk 1995.
06. Favourite gig: Gig of zee year I went to Friday 18th December, 10 months on:
After the Thought begins our evening with a warm and enveloping techno cheer that doesn't prepare the audience for what's to come. In the best way of course, because Gappy Tooth never disappoint in terms of stylistic diversity and act quality control. Matt Chapman-Jones, who is After The Thought, uses a Launch software technique that he's honed to a fine ambiental art since Midwinter Dronefest this time last year.
Utilising sparing guitar in reverb clusters with a different way with a Sigur Ros sample, cryptically it sets the tone for The August List, a husband and wife team I've never seen live before. Their demo of the month in Nightshiftmag.com 2012 impressed me, but now there are extra, gentile layers to the multi-tracked sound, taking the Lawrence vibe Matt had earlier and injecting auto harp, steely guitar chops spanning decades of folk arrangements and an intergender icy vocal call and response. Go see them - they're glad and very good.
Zurich could be a loose cannon in print, a glorious take on New Order speech styling s and Blue Monday catapulted into oblivion. Borne from the smoke of local Oxford band The Scholars, they're like the best combination of two of my fave post punk groups: The Horrors and lesser known rockers Glint from the United States. Much of their themes are loosely piloted - driven by raucous noise, and makes their and headline act Balloon Ascents appearance well worth the wait.
There's a lot of punches pulled by a 4-strong bunch of youths equally to the previous guitar storm, but Balloon Ascents tone down the heat inside the candle and hold the Radiohead, not dick head light strongly, with a clutch of new songs, most from 'Dont Look Down', making Nightshiftmag.com Top 25 in 2015. Their set is the perfect send off to Gappy Tooth's year in gigging, and mature lyrics tread the band to places where the instruments tell them that they're wrong. Gig of the year? For me personally, by a mile.
- besides my first live audience piano consciously at the James Street Tavern alongside Megan Josephy, Tom, Hugh McManners, Kosmosis , Cowley and first live audience keyboard and electronics consciously at The Wheatsheaf, High St, Oxford, experiences. Bjork at Wilderness Festival, of course, Braziers Park.
08. Favourite food (or Snax): I'll break this up into 3: meal, curry meal and Dastardly Exposure drink. Meal was the one I had today at Hackett's Bar, Witney. High Street, who had a saxophonist akin to Mikael Tariverdiev seemingly using a program to play along to like Music Maker Jam for iPhone. It was Chicken & Ham Hock Pie w peppered creamy mash, steamed veg (broccoli, carrots). Close runner up on the meal to the cruise Lobster w butter Sauce, asparagus and wild mushroom soup.
Curry meal was on the cruise, gotta say, despite wonderful Mutton Kodai, Chicken Balti and Korma curries from my favourite land restaurant, The First Floor Cowley, and Spiced Monkfish at La Cucina Cowley. Sindhu restaurant, Ventura ship. Soft shell crab (all edible) from the head chef with sauces and appetisers. But the real win came in the 3 course main meal after that: a sequence of rich korma, Lamb Rogan Josh and Tandoori Salmon Tofu, w a choice of high standard Marshmellow Cake or Chocolate Mega Profiterole. Included rice, sundries and Tarka Dhal. The main course was Atil Kochar's Big Plate.
DE drink would be Bavaria Lager, or Lager Shandy, from Holland. You can buy it in stores like Morrisons, ASDA (we have these in Carterton, Oxon - ASDA just opened).
09. Favourite guilty pleasure: Blogging
10. Favourite random moment: finding love (in a hopeful place week 22nd Feb ending) randomly, for the first time. The real kind of love, not the digital maelstrom I am sludgily used to. Hats off to a lovely lady for helping me heal from the time I was without feeling. Now I feel so loved and so alive.
A lot can happen in a year...I found love within myself. I released albums with good reviews. I bought lots of mind-scultping records. I delightedly changed my accommodation with help of the local mental health services. And I realised, all along the way, that I didn't have to go anywhere - the party moves with the indivisual.
01. Favourite track: Run close by Tamaryn - Sugar Fix, Little Red - The Huntsman, Kid Moxie - Mysteries Of Love (feat. Angelo Badalementi), and Marina & The Diamonds - Gold, and finally, Markus Guetner - Magnetar (A Strangely Isolated Place vinyl, like our space station, frankly)...
02. My album of the year is Bjork - Vulnicura, followed by Bat For Lashes - Sexwitch, then Kid Moxie - 1888, then Tamaryn - Cranekiss. David Borden - Music For Amplified Keyboard Instruments, Marina Diamandis - Froot. Of my own solo LPs, it's Nothing, Early Riser (released at Rapture, Witney, Oxon UK today), What I Think - Right Bus Of The Psyche, or LUV. All my releases are available at www.focisleft.bandcamp.com.
03. Favourite label: Low Point. Bought their entire discography (32 + digital releases, subscribe to their newsletter, they have 2 new tapes from Kogumaza today - it's Hardwick's label) on Bandcamp this Autumn. Kyle Bobby Dunn, Gareth Hardwick, Lviv, P Jorgesen, Ex-Easter Island Head, Apalusa. So many more. Absolute goldmine catalog if you love minimalist ambient and drone.
04. Favourite mixtape: Foci's Left - Any And All Things - Live @ GTI, Sep 26th 2015 (Live improvised mixset, first electronics gig conscious). Fixated for 15 years in 34 minutes.
05. Favourite book: Emotioanal Intelligence And Understanding Emotional Intelligence: Daniel Goleman, pbk 1995.
06. Favourite gig: Gig of zee year I went to Friday 18th December, 10 months on:
After the Thought begins our evening with a warm and enveloping techno cheer that doesn't prepare the audience for what's to come. In the best way of course, because Gappy Tooth never disappoint in terms of stylistic diversity and act quality control. Matt Chapman-Jones, who is After The Thought, uses a Launch software technique that he's honed to a fine ambiental art since Midwinter Dronefest this time last year.
Utilising sparing guitar in reverb clusters with a different way with a Sigur Ros sample, cryptically it sets the tone for The August List, a husband and wife team I've never seen live before. Their demo of the month in Nightshiftmag.com 2012 impressed me, but now there are extra, gentile layers to the multi-tracked sound, taking the Lawrence vibe Matt had earlier and injecting auto harp, steely guitar chops spanning decades of folk arrangements and an intergender icy vocal call and response. Go see them - they're glad and very good.
Zurich could be a loose cannon in print, a glorious take on New Order speech styling s and Blue Monday catapulted into oblivion. Borne from the smoke of local Oxford band The Scholars, they're like the best combination of two of my fave post punk groups: The Horrors and lesser known rockers Glint from the United States. Much of their themes are loosely piloted - driven by raucous noise, and makes their and headline act Balloon Ascents appearance well worth the wait.
There's a lot of punches pulled by a 4-strong bunch of youths equally to the previous guitar storm, but Balloon Ascents tone down the heat inside the candle and hold the Radiohead, not dick head light strongly, with a clutch of new songs, most from 'Dont Look Down', making Nightshiftmag.com Top 25 in 2015. Their set is the perfect send off to Gappy Tooth's year in gigging, and mature lyrics tread the band to places where the instruments tell them that they're wrong. Gig of the year? For me personally, by a mile.
- besides my first live audience piano consciously at the James Street Tavern alongside Megan Josephy, Tom, Hugh McManners, Kosmosis , Cowley and first live audience keyboard and electronics consciously at The Wheatsheaf, High St, Oxford, experiences. Bjork at Wilderness Festival, of course, Braziers Park.
08. Favourite food (or Snax): I'll break this up into 3: meal, curry meal and Dastardly Exposure drink. Meal was the one I had today at Hackett's Bar, Witney. High Street, who had a saxophonist akin to Mikael Tariverdiev seemingly using a program to play along to like Music Maker Jam for iPhone. It was Chicken & Ham Hock Pie w peppered creamy mash, steamed veg (broccoli, carrots). Close runner up on the meal to the cruise Lobster w butter Sauce, asparagus and wild mushroom soup.
Curry meal was on the cruise, gotta say, despite wonderful Mutton Kodai, Chicken Balti and Korma curries from my favourite land restaurant, The First Floor Cowley, and Spiced Monkfish at La Cucina Cowley. Sindhu restaurant, Ventura ship. Soft shell crab (all edible) from the head chef with sauces and appetisers. But the real win came in the 3 course main meal after that: a sequence of rich korma, Lamb Rogan Josh and Tandoori Salmon Tofu, w a choice of high standard Marshmellow Cake or Chocolate Mega Profiterole. Included rice, sundries and Tarka Dhal. The main course was Atil Kochar's Big Plate.
DE drink would be Bavaria Lager, or Lager Shandy, from Holland. You can buy it in stores like Morrisons, ASDA (we have these in Carterton, Oxon - ASDA just opened).
09. Favourite guilty pleasure: Blogging
10. Favourite random moment: finding love (in a hopeful place week 22nd Feb ending) randomly, for the first time. The real kind of love, not the digital maelstrom I am sludgily used to. Hats off to a lovely lady for helping me heal from the time I was without feeling. Now I feel so loved and so alive.
It's about that time of the year again. I'm glad to be reminded early, actually. 
01. Favourite track(s):
Chris Janson - Buy Me A Boat
Miranda Lambert - Smokin and Drinkin
Big & Rich - Run Away
02. Favourite album(s):
A lot of house/electronica/dnb from the late 90s, early 00s
03. Favourite label:
Haole
04. Favourite mixtape:
2 Bad Mice Mix - Euphony
Atmoteka 2.4 - Aural Imbalance
Southern Bluegrass III - dj MetaLX
05. Favourite SC thread:
Anything with good banter and or music
06. Favourite gig:
DJ Euphoria Live on futuredrumz.com 13.11.15
07. Favourite book(s):
Morris, Marc. 2015. A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain. London: Pegasus Books.
Morris, Marc. 2015. King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England: The road to Magna Carta. London: Pegasus Books.
Seward, Desmond. 2014. Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Queen Mother of the Middle Ages. London: Pegasus Books.
Davis, Jefferson. 2010. The Rise of the Confederate Government. New York: Barnes & Noble.
08. Favourite food (or Snax):
Beer!
09. Favourite guilty pleasure:
Blogging
10. Favourite random moment:
Finally realising just how different I am from those around me.
Chris Janson - Buy Me A Boat
Miranda Lambert - Smokin and Drinkin
Big & Rich - Run Away
02. Favourite album(s):
A lot of house/electronica/dnb from the late 90s, early 00s
03. Favourite label:
Haole
04. Favourite mixtape:
2 Bad Mice Mix - Euphony
Atmoteka 2.4 - Aural Imbalance
Southern Bluegrass III - dj MetaLX
05. Favourite SC thread:
Anything with good banter and or music
06. Favourite gig:
DJ Euphoria Live on futuredrumz.com 13.11.15
07. Favourite book(s):
Morris, Marc. 2015. A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain. London: Pegasus Books.
Morris, Marc. 2015. King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England: The road to Magna Carta. London: Pegasus Books.
Seward, Desmond. 2014. Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Queen Mother of the Middle Ages. London: Pegasus Books.
Davis, Jefferson. 2010. The Rise of the Confederate Government. New York: Barnes & Noble.
08. Favourite food (or Snax):
Beer!
09. Favourite guilty pleasure:
Blogging
10. Favourite random moment:
Finally realising just how different I am from those around me.
01. Favourite track: Roger Robinson - It Soon Come
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxI2ukcEuw
02. Favourite album: André O. Möller & Hans Eberhard Maldfeld - In Memory of James Tenney (Edition Wandelweiser)
http://www.wandelweiser.de/_e-w-records/...r1503.html
03. Favourite label: Edition Wandelweiser
http://www.wandelweiser.de/
04. Favourite mixtape: K-NeT Karant - The 40th Papy Zhamiq Birthday mixes (June 2013, but I only discovered them this year)
http://www.artskorps.org/labels/192-knet...thday.html
05. Favourite SC thread: POLITICS So Jeremy Corbyn is the new boogie-man?
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...?tid=61147
06a. Favourite gig (Jan-Jun): Mesa of the Lost Women ft. Junko, Rammel Club, Nottingham (20th June)
http://www.rammelclub.org/2015/06/rammel...-lost.html
06b. Favourite gig (Jul-Dec): Ex Cathedra, Southwell Minster, Notts (10th December)
http://excathedra.co.uk/gaudete-southwell-minster/
07. Favourite book: Matthew Collin - Pop Grenade (Zero Books)
http://www.zero-books.net/books/pop-grenade
08. Favourite food (or Snax): Tunnock's Caramel Wafers
http://www.tunnock.co.uk/products/caramel-wafer/
09. Favourite guilty pleasure: Scoring 158 in an official Mensa test (Cattell III B)
http://www.mensa.org.uk/iq-tests
10. Favourite random moment: Being interviewed about genderqueer (as background research for a US web magazine article)
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/..._from.html
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KxI2ukcEuw
02. Favourite album: André O. Möller & Hans Eberhard Maldfeld - In Memory of James Tenney (Edition Wandelweiser)
http://www.wandelweiser.de/_e-w-records/...r1503.html
03. Favourite label: Edition Wandelweiser
http://www.wandelweiser.de/
04. Favourite mixtape: K-NeT Karant - The 40th Papy Zhamiq Birthday mixes (June 2013, but I only discovered them this year)
http://www.artskorps.org/labels/192-knet...thday.html
05. Favourite SC thread: POLITICS So Jeremy Corbyn is the new boogie-man?
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthre...?tid=61147
06a. Favourite gig (Jan-Jun): Mesa of the Lost Women ft. Junko, Rammel Club, Nottingham (20th June)
http://www.rammelclub.org/2015/06/rammel...-lost.html
06b. Favourite gig (Jul-Dec): Ex Cathedra, Southwell Minster, Notts (10th December)
http://excathedra.co.uk/gaudete-southwell-minster/
07. Favourite book: Matthew Collin - Pop Grenade (Zero Books)
http://www.zero-books.net/books/pop-grenade
08. Favourite food (or Snax): Tunnock's Caramel Wafers
http://www.tunnock.co.uk/products/caramel-wafer/
09. Favourite guilty pleasure: Scoring 158 in an official Mensa test (Cattell III B)
http://www.mensa.org.uk/iq-tests
10. Favourite random moment: Being interviewed about genderqueer (as background research for a US web magazine article)
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/..._from.html
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
subversion stop 249=250 - subversion recommends muttley: uncertain things (muttley's 27th bday mix)
subversion stop 249=250 - subversion recommends muttley: uncertain things (muttley's 27th bday mix)
feat. altus, asc, vangelis, foci's left (fl), little red, slow club, seconds before awakening, sky residents
(enjoy & eschaton), fanu, simon bean, 36, eveson, grouper; 1h 15 minutes length.
feat. altus, asc, vangelis, foci's left (fl), little red, slow club, seconds before awakening, sky residents
(enjoy & eschaton), fanu, simon bean, 36, eveson, grouper; 1h 15 minutes length.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tkwiw3zez098z40/Uncertain%20Things....mp3?dl=0
/|
poetry by muttley
|/
doctrine of unexpected endings and quelled finalism.
kicking a habit like the smoke was blown out of the room by a vaccum.
diarising over a point-free exponent of the mind.
missing the details where there should be cognition inside.
changing the format as if it were pepperspray across a restaurant table.
finding sinuous connections until we're rarely unable.
controlling uncertain things may be a doctrine of unexpected endings i find.
but it's another thing being just controlled by the tide...
/|
poetry by muttley
|/
doctrine of unexpected endings and quelled finalism.
kicking a habit like the smoke was blown out of the room by a vaccum.
diarising over a point-free exponent of the mind.
missing the details where there should be cognition inside.
changing the format as if it were pepperspray across a restaurant table.
finding sinuous connections until we're rarely unable.
controlling uncertain things may be a doctrine of unexpected endings i find.
but it's another thing being just controlled by the tide...
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
SubVersion Stop 246: Balloon Ascents + Duotone @ The Bullingdon, Oxford, 23.01.15
Balloon Ascents + Duotone @ The Bullingdon, Friday 23rd January 2015
A duo tone, and a balloon ascent, both point to a shape or colour. Musically the monikers Duotone and Balloon Ascents seem equally sharing of colour and shape, as Barney Morse-Brown and the fast rising, late teens indie starlets prove on this double bill from Tigmus promotions.
Duotone, usually a one-man band, evade soulless pomp and on his first track lifted from 2012's "Ropes", the chirpy cello opener "Walking To The Shore". Barney beckons in well-orchestrated loops and exact delivery of his vocals in the manner of the record, but with a sense of place that is warming in the newly-refurbished confines of The Bullingdon. Speaking to the music promoter in the intermission, there seems wanting to put the previously pretense-heavy screen of the "Art Bar" name-change intent aside and make the bullingdon THE venue for live music in Oxford. With a start to the show like this from Tigmus, Barney at least hits his stride with the lilting loveliness of "Little White Caravan", one of Nightshift's tracks of 2015 so far. Peppered with two standouts from his first album "Work Harder..." - "Greetings Hello" and "You Don't Need Church", the result of the crowd's salute to Duotone tonght is shaping and colouring of ambient pop, in the eyes of one mass that doesn't need religiousity to power its group function.
And what a group function Balloon Ascents are in a longer linger around the clouds of shoegazey, dub-inflected indie that post-rock left behind. Subconsciously seeming to owe much bassline-wise to King Tubby, the wandering waltzes never meander in their own shadow, or fall over from friction between instrumentalists. The players all appear to be doing their job with a smile and this energy translates to the crowd. This is Balloon Ascents single ep launch since their Nightshift cover story
in September and the four tracks are "Cutout" and glued into the narrative tonight. Starting with that lead, then working systematically through to my personal highlight, "The Only One", for once a short, sharp shock of a 2-3 minute length works less well for the band, as they stretch their sonic intent further than the clandestine Radiohead influence. So while post-rock has been flipped out of the fold in terms of its peak/trough nature, the progressive nature of Balloon Ascents tracks
remains a strong connector that pushes their work further than genre limitations allow. This makes it sound fresh and exciting, for one, and also in terms of a live experience, they inject more welly into what may come to them by way of wonder. And wonder, duos of tones and shape and colour is certainly what their set is full of this evening.
A duo tone, and a balloon ascent, both point to a shape or colour. Musically the monikers Duotone and Balloon Ascents seem equally sharing of colour and shape, as Barney Morse-Brown and the fast rising, late teens indie starlets prove on this double bill from Tigmus promotions.
Duotone, usually a one-man band, evade soulless pomp and on his first track lifted from 2012's "Ropes", the chirpy cello opener "Walking To The Shore". Barney beckons in well-orchestrated loops and exact delivery of his vocals in the manner of the record, but with a sense of place that is warming in the newly-refurbished confines of The Bullingdon. Speaking to the music promoter in the intermission, there seems wanting to put the previously pretense-heavy screen of the "Art Bar" name-change intent aside and make the bullingdon THE venue for live music in Oxford. With a start to the show like this from Tigmus, Barney at least hits his stride with the lilting loveliness of "Little White Caravan", one of Nightshift's tracks of 2015 so far. Peppered with two standouts from his first album "Work Harder..." - "Greetings Hello" and "You Don't Need Church", the result of the crowd's salute to Duotone tonght is shaping and colouring of ambient pop, in the eyes of one mass that doesn't need religiousity to power its group function.
And what a group function Balloon Ascents are in a longer linger around the clouds of shoegazey, dub-inflected indie that post-rock left behind. Subconsciously seeming to owe much bassline-wise to King Tubby, the wandering waltzes never meander in their own shadow, or fall over from friction between instrumentalists. The players all appear to be doing their job with a smile and this energy translates to the crowd. This is Balloon Ascents single ep launch since their Nightshift cover story
in September and the four tracks are "Cutout" and glued into the narrative tonight. Starting with that lead, then working systematically through to my personal highlight, "The Only One", for once a short, sharp shock of a 2-3 minute length works less well for the band, as they stretch their sonic intent further than the clandestine Radiohead influence. So while post-rock has been flipped out of the fold in terms of its peak/trough nature, the progressive nature of Balloon Ascents tracks
remains a strong connector that pushes their work further than genre limitations allow. This makes it sound fresh and exciting, for one, and also in terms of a live experience, they inject more welly into what may come to them by way of wonder. And wonder, duos of tones and shape and colour is certainly what their set is full of this evening.
Monday, 22 December 2014
SubVersion Stop 238: SV Xmas 2014 Drip-Feed 4 - Simon Bean - Lust 320 Mp3 free download
For the fourth part of SubVersion's first Drip-Feed series, we're presented with a fantastic exclusive track from fellow Omni Music producer Simon Bean, who has remixed Eschaton and Foci's Left priorly. Ambient electronica styles in a jungle framework with lots of melodic pad sweeps. :)
http://kapsil.net/muttley/SubVersion/Simon%20Bean%20-%20%20Lust.mp3
Thanks so much to Simon Bean for providing the track. Find more Simon Bean at www.omnimusic.org
http://kapsil.net/muttley/SubVersion/Simon%20Bean%20-%20%20Lust.mp3
Thanks so much to Simon Bean for providing the track. Find more Simon Bean at www.omnimusic.org
Saturday, 14 June 2014
SubVersion Stop 228: Holykindof - Stay / Sea (Eilean Rec, 2014)
Holykindof – Stay / Sea (Eilean
Rec, 2014)
A musical love
letter from BJ Nilsen to Gavin Bryars, Holykindof's "Stay / Sea"
touches base with music concrete – several whooshing reversed vinyl
noises pervade the atmosphere; lo-fi drone – the entire three
pieces encumber around a type of linear erosion; and mood aligned
with lysergic pensiveness. Running to 40 minutes, the pace never
feels laboured or forced toward a gear-shift. Yes, the atmosphere is
rickety, thanks to the noisy-scratchy nature of the sound sourcing,
but in general it's in third lever and never breaks a sweat, and
doesn't cause you to perspirate.
The scratching is
to an un-attuned ear disconcerting over time, whereby you need to
have listened to enough other musics before listening to bypass its
irregularity. It subsumes the languid cello playing stylishly and
gives a welcome change to the landscape of otherwise 'regular' sound.
In an age of wanton experimentation, where musicians continually
gambit for a break from the ordinary, "Stay / Sea" is not
oxymoronic of its title, being strong and steadfast like the waves of
an estuary. It is rooted in traditional orthodoxy of instrumentation,
yet contains an alien edge. This is due to its potent fixation
quality of repeating chords. It is needed, in compositions that rely
on the wealth of sublimative, subconscious mind-shaping harvest that
pulsates from thought to action.
The shorter the
track in this release, the less effective the results. The crop is
always worthwhile, a melancholic cloaking device for the emotions.
That dial alters in resonance every time you hear it. Like Bryars'
"The Sinking Of The Titanic", "Nocturne In S Major"
is ruthless in its intention and paints a sullen, purposeful backdrop
to much-a-do-about-nothing periods. "Stay / Sea" turns in
the covers of sleep like a coastguard watching the blue grass crash.
Monday, 9 June 2014
SubVersion Stop 227: InfiniteSloth is: "Looking for repetitive drone-like compositions"
This thread was posted in the first week of June 2014 on Subvert Central - here's the link:
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60547-Looking-for-repetitive-drone-like-compositions
"Maybe sparse, but mostly a repetition of the same note or chord" Nic TVG, aka InfiniteSloth begins. It's an interesting subject this - there is an awful lot of drone about, but the trend in the last 5 years - 2009-2014, has been to fragment structures of ambience into more abstract, yet paradoxically song-based compositions. Just look at how "And Their Refinement Of The Decline" from 2007, posted by me, by landmark artists Stars Of The Lid (Adam Wiltzie & Brian Mcbride) has become "a start" for this topic. As an expert in the ambient field I was humble enough to avoid including my own compositions, and also because they're not entirely drone-based. Yet artists all over have lost the holy grail of minimalism over time - just the other week for instance I was suggested to be "stretching ideas too thin" - I was changing stuff around quickly, not letting it time to ferment and develop potency. This pattern has scatter-gunned throughout the ambient, drone and contemporary classical mecca, and no one no longer stands for a specfic style of drone.
Drone being what constitutes ambience in all music, it's all in the feedback for starters. So I thought: "you want ultra minimal? Try some Paul Bradley then". Here's the link to one of the best minimal drone LPs out there, as recommended by Dave at Low Light Mixes:
http://paulbradley.bandcamp.com/album/anamnesis
Nic said he wanted stuff like this, so hopefully more contributions from far and wide will follow. :)
"If the first 50 seconds of Greg Haines - Snow Airport were looped for several minutes, but played by a human and not synthetically looped. That's what I'm on the hunt for."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM4gA0MTQK8
Statto references lauded composers Eliane Radigue and Pauline Oliveros. "Naphta posted a video of Eliane Radigue on June 2nd (on Facebook), which was the first I had heard of her.
Eliane Radigue - French
Pauline Oliveros - American
Daphne Oram - British
...and all composing from the 50s on." states Nic.
The post by cube references long-time industrialists Coil (Peter Christopherson passed away in 2010) with a video for the LP "Time Machines". I haven't heard this yet but I loved "Musik 2 Play In The Dark". He also posts one of his own tracks as ennui (I have a download of his "Mindstate Disposition").
The newest post just before publishing this leads the reader into finding out Nic's Another Timbre interest has yielded some repetitive drone fruits. Stay tuned (or dissonantly tuned) for more.
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60547-Looking-for-repetitive-drone-like-compositions
"Maybe sparse, but mostly a repetition of the same note or chord" Nic TVG, aka InfiniteSloth begins. It's an interesting subject this - there is an awful lot of drone about, but the trend in the last 5 years - 2009-2014, has been to fragment structures of ambience into more abstract, yet paradoxically song-based compositions. Just look at how "And Their Refinement Of The Decline" from 2007, posted by me, by landmark artists Stars Of The Lid (Adam Wiltzie & Brian Mcbride) has become "a start" for this topic. As an expert in the ambient field I was humble enough to avoid including my own compositions, and also because they're not entirely drone-based. Yet artists all over have lost the holy grail of minimalism over time - just the other week for instance I was suggested to be "stretching ideas too thin" - I was changing stuff around quickly, not letting it time to ferment and develop potency. This pattern has scatter-gunned throughout the ambient, drone and contemporary classical mecca, and no one no longer stands for a specfic style of drone.
Drone being what constitutes ambience in all music, it's all in the feedback for starters. So I thought: "you want ultra minimal? Try some Paul Bradley then". Here's the link to one of the best minimal drone LPs out there, as recommended by Dave at Low Light Mixes:
http://paulbradley.bandcamp.com/album/anamnesis
Nic said he wanted stuff like this, so hopefully more contributions from far and wide will follow. :)
"If the first 50 seconds of Greg Haines - Snow Airport were looped for several minutes, but played by a human and not synthetically looped. That's what I'm on the hunt for."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM4gA0MTQK8
Statto references lauded composers Eliane Radigue and Pauline Oliveros. "Naphta posted a video of Eliane Radigue on June 2nd (on Facebook), which was the first I had heard of her.
Eliane Radigue - French
Pauline Oliveros - American
Daphne Oram - British
...and all composing from the 50s on." states Nic.
The post by cube references long-time industrialists Coil (Peter Christopherson passed away in 2010) with a video for the LP "Time Machines". I haven't heard this yet but I loved "Musik 2 Play In The Dark". He also posts one of his own tracks as ennui (I have a download of his "Mindstate Disposition").
The newest post just before publishing this leads the reader into finding out Nic's Another Timbre interest has yielded some repetitive drone fruits. Stay tuned (or dissonantly tuned) for more.
Monday, 12 May 2014
SubVersion Stop 226: What's been happening in the world of Foci's Left (May 2013 - May 2014)
Instead of spam with multiple postings, I'm collecting all of the essential Foci's Left publicity from May 2013 to May 2014 into one post, upon release of my third album, "Derelict Career".
A lot can happen in a year...in reverse chronological order:
Foci's Left - Derelict Career LP (Foci's Left LP 002)
.jpg)
01. Pathological Darkness
02. Anything Becomes Possible With Time
03. Eternal Sands [The Shapeshifter's Reprise feat. Eschaton] (Album Version)
04. Talking With Birds Lament
05. Liez
06. Wandering In A Bright Spot (For Advertisements)
07. The Light You Shine Prevents Me From Being Uptight
08. Seeing The Sights (For Film)
09. Spared Merit (Vocal Version)
10. A Rose In The Desert Wind (Simon Bean Re-model)
Released: 12 May 2014
Price: £5
http://focisleft.bandcamp.com/album/derelict-career-lp
The album is called "Derelict Career". Concept: the ambient music protagonist (me) sees that ambient-exclusive musicians are fit for a "derelict career", as besides Brian Eno, the style has no sustainable capital powering it; it must stay a hobby. Ambient is Eno''s invention and to have success, musicians must look outside their niche to move through different styles. Ambient has been going since the 1950s - it is often mixed with new age as a genre, music for Tai Chi, and healing/therapy medicine. So the point to make is to, jokingly so, try and avoid a "derelict career", in order to progress and have an audience - the most important faculty for me; money isn't important, people are.
The album artwork is an exclusive commission from William Rye, a young artist who curated the Unconscious Volume exhibition in Kent, UK in 2012, in memory of my uncle John Buckingham who died age 45 from Motor Neuron Disease. The image has a special clarity for our family, my father being a painter, as I once was, with the brush being melted into the book representative of my career choice to be a writer, whether of tracks, songs, lyrics or poetry. So far I have been successful at this, with my dream jobs becoming more reality than ever before. With each sale, a percentage is donated to William, and the remainder helps to cover any CD packaging / gear upgrading as I venture further into music production. Thank you immeasurably for your time and support.
Reviews
"The long track is great, as well as those which concentrate on soundscaping. But (as you'd probably expect
)
I don't like the vocal tracks at all. Anyway, just because I don't like
the vocal tracks doesn't mean other people won't". ~ Jonathan Tait,
Subvert Central Recordings owner and published letter writer in The Wire
2013 concerning Meredith Monk.
"Overall it seems you're still searching for a sound, but tracks 1-4, 8 and 10 are the way to go in my opinion. Of course you should not really adapt based on one person's opinion ~ better to collect a group of opinions and go from there!" ~ Richard Allen, www.acloserlisten.com editor and central writer.
"Listening to Pathological Darkness right now - really liking it.
Like how the brighter synth emerges (1:08) as the track progresses but still with the darker sounds infiltrating the mix. It does really make you feel like you're inside a gloomy, distracted mind. Given the title, that's mission accomplished." ~ Code, Subtle Audio label owner (Mary Anne Hobbs / Aphex Twin featured).
"I like the sound design going on" ~ Nic TVG, Pinecone Moonshine owner (Equinox, Icarus, Macc et al).
"I listened. And this remind me even more of The Residents. But much much more spooky. Some scary atmospheres in this one. I notice something interesting in your tracks. You don't start slowly and build the tracks - like most of the ambient/drone artists - but instead from the start you insert the listener into your soundscapes. Eternal Sands (The Shapeshifters Reprise) I like the most so far." ~ Kristian (Fyhwds), Noise For Blues For Noise artist.
Credits
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, keyboard work, processing, mastering, except "A Rose In The Desert Wind" which is re-modelled by Simon Rametse.
Artwork commissioned exclusively from William Rye, from the "Unconscious Volume" 2012 exhibition, dedicated to my uncle John Buckingham, who died of Motor Neuron Disease in 2002.
Tags
ambient foci's left label omni music simon bean dark drone electroacoustic emotional pianism second self-released lp third album vocal harmonies yin & yang Oxford
Foci's Left - 15 Minutes Of Fame Pt.1 - I Want To Touch The Sky - Derelict Career Promo Mix (May 2014)
01. 00:00 The Inventors Of Aircraft – Early Morning Trauma (Earthtones Vol.1, Tessellate Recordings, Bandcamp, 2013)
02. 01:40 The Angling Loser – Night (Author Of The Twilight, Time Released Sound, 2013
03. 07:45 Abdul Mogard – Studded Procession (Futuresequence, Sequence 7, Bandcamp, 2013)
04. 07:50 Metatag – One Dream Lost One Dream Found (Transmisson LP, Bandcamp, 2014)
05. 09:20 Eeem – Shores Of Midgard (Futuresequence, Sequence 7, Bandcamp, 2013)
06. 15:40 Foci's Left – Pathological Darkness (Derelict Career LP, Foci's Left, Bandcamp, 2014)
07. 17:00 Boards Of Canada – Reach For The Dead (Tomorrow's Harvest LP, Warp, 2013)
08. 21:20 Grouper – No Other (A.I.A: Dream Loss LP, Yellowelectric, 2011)
09. 23:50 Duncan O'Calleiagh – Low Across Dawn Waters (Distant Voices, Still Lives, Parvo Art, 2009)
10. 23:50 Foci's Left – Anything Becomes Possible With Time (Derelict Career LP / Tara EP, Foci's Left, Bandcamp, 2014)
31:34 end
http://kapsil.net/muttley/2014/Foci%...%202014%29.mp3
Enjoy people.
Mick
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60487-Foci-s-Left-15-MOF-Pt-1-I-Want-To-Touch-The-Sky-Derelict-Career-Promo-Mix-%28May%29
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/...rumental-remix
Foci's Left - Life In A Less Southern Town (Omni Music Ohm Series 02)
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60331-OUT-NOW-The-Ohm-Series-Foci-s-Left-Life-in-a-Less-Southern-Town-LP-%28Ohm02%29&highlight=southern
#6 in the drum 'n' bass bestsellers one week in March 2014, #32 for the month from hundreds (it's not even d'n'b, it's at best electronica).
#Supported by Niels Roosen (www.jungletrain.net owner), Jonathan Tait (Subvert Central Recordings owner), Simon Rametse (Simon Bean, Omni Music), amongst others.
#Critically acclaimed by seasoned www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net writer David Murphy in print.
#Collaborative effort with a Brian Eno collaborator - Simon Scott of Slowdive - and Mike Twelve (Seconds Before Awakening / The Giraffe And The Tree).
The LP is based on emotions I experience writing music in the town of Carterton, Oxfordshire; additionally Oxford, as a means to express myself - as opposed to Rochester, Kent, where I could express very little. "Life In A Less Southern Town" runs the gamut of the ambient, drone, synthesizer and modern classical worlds to offer something unique.
"Erratic Pathway" is remixed on the disc by Simon Scott of Slowdive. Scott worked with Brian Eno on the group's "Souvlaki" LP in the early 1990s.
The disc comes with 4 bonus tracks. CDs ship immediately (please put your address in the Paypal notes and I'll send your copy).
Many thanks for your support - an audience means the world to me.
Mick Buckingham (Foci's Left)
www.omnimusic.org
reviews
"There are two sorts of ambient music. One gets you relaxed, and one makes you uneasy; one's a warm duvet and one's a chill breeze; one's a forgiving hug and one's a suspicious glance.
Although the second album by Oxford musician Mick Buckingham covers both ambient strains, it's definitely better when leaning towards the latter. The most satisfying element of this record is its density - where many ambient composers are happy to let things run, Buckingham has created a CD of real sonic depth, with a lush textural variety, from the pitched-up honks at the opening (that remind us of "Galleons Of Stone" by The Art Of Noise) to "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors", in which distant metallic clanks are borne on zephyrs through crumbling ruins.
Occasionally the sounds are just too well worn, and the ear can't help but associate echoey piano with lachrymose US soaps, and sawtooth synth hums with encroaching Silurians, but in general this is a well-constructed thoughtful slice of musical atmospherica.
Perhaps "Transistory Stringency" - yes, the titles are best ignored, frankly - is thin and meandering, but in general this record marries the amicable bubbling of early Global Communication with the elegant austerity of Tim Hecker or Leyland Kirby.
The record ends with some unexpected drum 'n' bass action, and if the breakbeat tweaking is a little ham-fisted, the mournful Aphex horns underneath embody the record's true, dark heart. Good stuff, in short, but more misery next time, please, Mick; perhaps we should have written a bad review, to get the ball rolling." ~ David Murphy, Nightshift reviewer, April 2014. (www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net)
"It reminded me of Vangelis. It's better than your first album. :)" ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings and published The Wire Letters contributor concerning Meredith Monk. (www.subvertcentral.com)
"That's pretty out there man. I didn't dislike it, that's for sure, but the main thing I took from it is it was very adventurous in what it tries to do." ~ ASC on "Love Never Fails", producer mentioned by Joe Muggs in The Wire 2012 Rewind as breaking new ground. (www.auxiliarymusic.com)
"First impression: your music is very strong compositionally and sonically, very well made and beautifully executed. :)" ~ Pascal Savy, Fluid Radio.
"Yes I liked it. You've got a real talent there. I think you're an innovator." ~ Geoff Brooks PhD, clinical psychologist, hypnotherapist and Reiki healer.
"I like the mood of the release, which I would classify as darkly contemplative. It's always good to play to your strengths, so my recommendation would be to continue further down this path." ~ www.acloserlisten.com
"I like it :) Suddenly starts to get moody when the organ comes in." ~ Shiva, Bitrate Music on "With Aid Of The Assertive" [CD-R Bonus Track] (www.bitratemusic.com), attendant of Technicality raves in the ongoing jungle / drum 'n' bass revival.
"I thought is was nicely meandering without losing its focus." ~ Bob Macc on "Love Conquers All", jungle track in 4/4 and 5/4 time signature. (Outsider, Paradox Music, Subvert Central, Breakin, www.subvertmastering.com)
"Sounds like a good lead into a d'n'b track. The arrangement is very pleasant to me." ~ Nic TVG on "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors" percussion section. (www.pineconemoonshine.com)
"I like the part where the drums start to fall apart the best." ~ Nic TVG, Pinecone Moonshine label owner (Macc, Icarus et al) on "Love Conquers All".
"Nice ECM style album cover as well!" ~ James Sargeant, Moshka promoter, Oxford.
reviews
"Introducing ‘Not Seeing Reality’ – the wayward, often mysterious journey that defines the pathway of what we call life. For many, reality is totally dependent on individual perception. The notes begin their life in innocent infancy, but by their teens they have snaked their way into the more unruly, dissonant territory, interacting with one another until a harmonious chain reaction ensues; one that started off with a primary note – a single heartbeat, the survivor in the battle of selection – but one that quickly brings in a thousand more.
Reality is then able to shape-shift into a sporadic, sparse piano line, accompanied by a gorgeous wave of crimson synth. Only, a line doesn’t quite work; it is bloated enough to feel pregnant with the baby bump of melody, oozing out of the thicker line and then submerging the original, vulnerable piano with new life.
Foci’s Left is the alias of Fluid Radio’s own Mick Buckingham, a name that regular Fluid readers will know very well. Told as a chronological tale, Grumpy Love isn’t nearly as dishevelled or as depressed with the state of things past and present as its grumpy name would seem to suggest. It is, in fact, shrouded by heart-felt sensitivity and deep personality. It is very much the opposite of grumpy. After all, there are two words up there; the oh-so-thin space that divides the first word from the second, ‘love’, is close enough to be considered intimate.
Love never fails. Love conquers all.
Grumpy Love is a beautiful, personalized painting, left to hang at a slight angle on the uneven canvas of life, with both enjoyable and difficult moments that come to claim every man. When linked together, they reach a teenage crescendo. ‘Piano Paint’ introduces some beautiful synths that jut into the piano, coating it with an intoxicating harbour of nostalgia – the nostalgic element traces a radiated line of melody, as if the early memory on which it was based has physically escaped, deceiving what we all thought of as reality and instead containing itself within the music as a precautionary measure. It cocoons itself against the decline that age brings and the mood swing of swift change that can affect our recollections as one decade passes into another.
Saturated in the vintage, ambient warmth of pure tone, when the genre itself was in its infancy, the synths are a mesmerising serenade. It shares the same angelic timbre that made the early Brian Eno classic, Music For Airports, such a lovable listen. You can tell instantly that Grumpy Love is a deeply personal recording just from this synth alone. The later drums seem to propel the passages of life forward, with no pause for reminiscing. That comes later on, because Grumpy Love has some beautiful, open spaces ideal for reflection. Life may, at times, feel like ‘An Upwards Slope’, but listening to the music here is to know that the inner serenity of peaceful ease is always there. Always. Here, a thinner drone is disguised as Cupid himself, but the darker echoes of possible distress lie just beyond the doorway. It is the tense, anxious sound of the unknown; a place where dusty road-signs are always blank with unmarked destinations.
‘For Fluid’ is a loving piece of music that is as much a generous tribute as it is a personal reflection. Grumpy Love narrates the passage of life with painstaking thought. The older hand outlines the black tail of a nurtured note like the embrace between a newborn and a parent. In this picture, the thin brush gives life to the paint. It holds itself in the palmed trust of the future, while taking one last look back at the past – this is the final dedication." ~ James Catchpole, Fluid Radio
www.fluid-radio.co.uk/2013/09/focis-left/
"After the disconcerting dissonance of his last demo (FTAL Attraction), Foci's Left - the solo work of occasional Nightshift contributor Mick Buckingham - casts forth a full album set on a far less turbulent plane.
Nine tracks of stretched-out electro-acoustic ambient pianism and electronic minimalism drift and shift with soporific intent, microtonal drones morphing and gradually mutating with precision-restrained variation. Best of the pieces here is the drone-drift of "Decompress The Magnet", while it's marginally more imposing twin "An Upwards Slope" dovetails into it seamlessly. "Regurgitated Impulses" adds a necessary glitchy interlude, while "Piano Paint" is both light in tone and texture but random enough to be distracting.
Where the album occasionally falls down is a lack of brevity on a few of the tracks - "Piano Paint" for example has run its course long before it concludes - while "For Fluid" is anything but and simply sounds like Mick's plonking random keys on his piano, but beyond such lapses, "Grumpy Love" is a neat enough addition to the ambient drone cannon." ~ Ronan Munro, Nightshift Magazine ed.
(www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net, October 2013)
"I find you on Bandcamp and I'm listening right now "Grumpy Love". This is strange music so far :) Dark soundscapes and atmospheres but lighten up with childish imagination coming from the piano playing (currently I'm at the ending of the second track). Interesting. " ~ Kristian, Noise For Blues For Noise.
"It is very...interesting :)
Well at times I really like the aesthetic and the goofiness of the sounds. Sometimes it is a tad too much for me I have to admit. Maybe it is something I have to listen to more carefully. But it is very inspiring at times." ~ Nils Frahm, Erased Tapes Records.
"It's pretty amazing. I really like 'Decompress The Magnet' and 'An Upwards Slope', they are my favourites. I'm going to have to burn it to CD for the car." ~ 247, Futurepast Fanzine ed.
"Well done Mick. Congrats!" ~ ASC
"I really like 'Decompress The Magnet' :D" ~ GlassBox
"'Decompress The Magnet' really is outstanding." ~ Roo Stercogburn, Omni Music.
subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?59592-Foci-s-Left-Grumpy-Love-LP-(my-debut-album-OUT-NOW)
"It has a nice flow to it" ~ Roy Buckingham, my grandfather on "For Fluid".
"I am very impressed, the Grumpy Love LP, it really has a lot to offer. 'Decompress the Magnet' has a depth of creativity, emotion and inspiration resonating from it. 'An Upwards Slope' has a feeling of a eternal dose of mystery and passionate adventure of abstract life just breathing in and out through the song... I wish the LP had a fixed price on it because it is of good value. Brillliant work love it!" ~ Simon Bean, Omni Music via Facebook.
A lot can happen in a year...in reverse chronological order:
Foci's Left - Derelict Career LP (Foci's Left LP 002)
02. Anything Becomes Possible With Time
03. Eternal Sands [The Shapeshifter's Reprise feat. Eschaton] (Album Version)
04. Talking With Birds Lament
05. Liez
06. Wandering In A Bright Spot (For Advertisements)
07. The Light You Shine Prevents Me From Being Uptight
08. Seeing The Sights (For Film)
09. Spared Merit (Vocal Version)
10. A Rose In The Desert Wind (Simon Bean Re-model)
Released: 12 May 2014
Price: £5
http://focisleft.bandcamp.com/album/derelict-career-lp
The album is called "Derelict Career". Concept: the ambient music protagonist (me) sees that ambient-exclusive musicians are fit for a "derelict career", as besides Brian Eno, the style has no sustainable capital powering it; it must stay a hobby. Ambient is Eno''s invention and to have success, musicians must look outside their niche to move through different styles. Ambient has been going since the 1950s - it is often mixed with new age as a genre, music for Tai Chi, and healing/therapy medicine. So the point to make is to, jokingly so, try and avoid a "derelict career", in order to progress and have an audience - the most important faculty for me; money isn't important, people are.
The album artwork is an exclusive commission from William Rye, a young artist who curated the Unconscious Volume exhibition in Kent, UK in 2012, in memory of my uncle John Buckingham who died age 45 from Motor Neuron Disease. The image has a special clarity for our family, my father being a painter, as I once was, with the brush being melted into the book representative of my career choice to be a writer, whether of tracks, songs, lyrics or poetry. So far I have been successful at this, with my dream jobs becoming more reality than ever before. With each sale, a percentage is donated to William, and the remainder helps to cover any CD packaging / gear upgrading as I venture further into music production. Thank you immeasurably for your time and support.
Reviews
"The long track is great, as well as those which concentrate on soundscaping. But (as you'd probably expect
)
I don't like the vocal tracks at all. Anyway, just because I don't like
the vocal tracks doesn't mean other people won't". ~ Jonathan Tait,
Subvert Central Recordings owner and published letter writer in The Wire
2013 concerning Meredith Monk."Overall it seems you're still searching for a sound, but tracks 1-4, 8 and 10 are the way to go in my opinion. Of course you should not really adapt based on one person's opinion ~ better to collect a group of opinions and go from there!" ~ Richard Allen, www.acloserlisten.com editor and central writer.
"Listening to Pathological Darkness right now - really liking it.
Like how the brighter synth emerges (1:08) as the track progresses but still with the darker sounds infiltrating the mix. It does really make you feel like you're inside a gloomy, distracted mind. Given the title, that's mission accomplished." ~ Code, Subtle Audio label owner (Mary Anne Hobbs / Aphex Twin featured).
"I like the sound design going on" ~ Nic TVG, Pinecone Moonshine owner (Equinox, Icarus, Macc et al).
"I listened. And this remind me even more of The Residents. But much much more spooky. Some scary atmospheres in this one. I notice something interesting in your tracks. You don't start slowly and build the tracks - like most of the ambient/drone artists - but instead from the start you insert the listener into your soundscapes. Eternal Sands (The Shapeshifters Reprise) I like the most so far." ~ Kristian (Fyhwds), Noise For Blues For Noise artist.
Credits
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, keyboard work, processing, mastering, except "A Rose In The Desert Wind" which is re-modelled by Simon Rametse.
Artwork commissioned exclusively from William Rye, from the "Unconscious Volume" 2012 exhibition, dedicated to my uncle John Buckingham, who died of Motor Neuron Disease in 2002.
Tags
ambient foci's left label omni music simon bean dark drone electroacoustic emotional pianism second self-released lp third album vocal harmonies yin & yang Oxford
Foci's Left - 15 Minutes Of Fame Pt.1 - I Want To Touch The Sky - Derelict Career Promo Mix (May 2014)
01. 00:00 The Inventors Of Aircraft – Early Morning Trauma (Earthtones Vol.1, Tessellate Recordings, Bandcamp, 2013)
02. 01:40 The Angling Loser – Night (Author Of The Twilight, Time Released Sound, 2013
03. 07:45 Abdul Mogard – Studded Procession (Futuresequence, Sequence 7, Bandcamp, 2013)
04. 07:50 Metatag – One Dream Lost One Dream Found (Transmisson LP, Bandcamp, 2014)
05. 09:20 Eeem – Shores Of Midgard (Futuresequence, Sequence 7, Bandcamp, 2013)
06. 15:40 Foci's Left – Pathological Darkness (Derelict Career LP, Foci's Left, Bandcamp, 2014)
07. 17:00 Boards Of Canada – Reach For The Dead (Tomorrow's Harvest LP, Warp, 2013)
08. 21:20 Grouper – No Other (A.I.A: Dream Loss LP, Yellowelectric, 2011)
09. 23:50 Duncan O'Calleiagh – Low Across Dawn Waters (Distant Voices, Still Lives, Parvo Art, 2009)
10. 23:50 Foci's Left – Anything Becomes Possible With Time (Derelict Career LP / Tara EP, Foci's Left, Bandcamp, 2014)
31:34 end
http://kapsil.net/muttley/2014/Foci%...%202014%29.mp3
Enjoy people.
Mick
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60487-Foci-s-Left-15-MOF-Pt-1-I-Want-To-Touch-The-Sky-Derelict-Career-Promo-Mix-%28May%29
Goldfrapp - Stranger (Foci's Left Instrumental Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MnySVVID3agFree Mp3 download on the SubVersion SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/subversion-2/...rumental-remix
Published on 3 May 2014
Bonus audio from the soon-arriving "Derelict Career" LP by Foci's Left, the solo project of Mick Robert Buckingham from Oxford, UK. Due to respect of copyright this original version is online as a stream and not on the paid download of my third album.
The LP will be available at: www.focisleft.bandcamp.com for an inexpensive £5.
Please buy Goldfrapp's records. "Tales Of Us" is a fantastic record closely followed by their debut "Lovely Head" and then "Seventh Tree". You can find Goldfrapp's music available on Amazon, iTunes, and more reputable stores.
Don't forget to check www.goldfrapp.com
Thanks for listening.
http://subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?60331-OUT-NOW-The-Ohm-Series-Foci-s-Left-Life-in-a-Less-Southern-Town-LP-%28Ohm02%29&highlight=southern
#6 in the drum 'n' bass bestsellers one week in March 2014, #32 for the month from hundreds (it's not even d'n'b, it's at best electronica).
#Supported by Niels Roosen (www.jungletrain.net owner), Jonathan Tait (Subvert Central Recordings owner), Simon Rametse (Simon Bean, Omni Music), amongst others.
#Critically acclaimed by seasoned www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net writer David Murphy in print.
#Collaborative effort with a Brian Eno collaborator - Simon Scott of Slowdive - and Mike Twelve (Seconds Before Awakening / The Giraffe And The Tree).
The LP is based on emotions I experience writing music in the town of Carterton, Oxfordshire; additionally Oxford, as a means to express myself - as opposed to Rochester, Kent, where I could express very little. "Life In A Less Southern Town" runs the gamut of the ambient, drone, synthesizer and modern classical worlds to offer something unique.
"Erratic Pathway" is remixed on the disc by Simon Scott of Slowdive. Scott worked with Brian Eno on the group's "Souvlaki" LP in the early 1990s.
The disc comes with 4 bonus tracks. CDs ship immediately (please put your address in the Paypal notes and I'll send your copy).
Many thanks for your support - an audience means the world to me.
Mick Buckingham (Foci's Left)
www.omnimusic.org
reviews
"There are two sorts of ambient music. One gets you relaxed, and one makes you uneasy; one's a warm duvet and one's a chill breeze; one's a forgiving hug and one's a suspicious glance.
Although the second album by Oxford musician Mick Buckingham covers both ambient strains, it's definitely better when leaning towards the latter. The most satisfying element of this record is its density - where many ambient composers are happy to let things run, Buckingham has created a CD of real sonic depth, with a lush textural variety, from the pitched-up honks at the opening (that remind us of "Galleons Of Stone" by The Art Of Noise) to "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors", in which distant metallic clanks are borne on zephyrs through crumbling ruins.
Occasionally the sounds are just too well worn, and the ear can't help but associate echoey piano with lachrymose US soaps, and sawtooth synth hums with encroaching Silurians, but in general this is a well-constructed thoughtful slice of musical atmospherica.
Perhaps "Transistory Stringency" - yes, the titles are best ignored, frankly - is thin and meandering, but in general this record marries the amicable bubbling of early Global Communication with the elegant austerity of Tim Hecker or Leyland Kirby.
The record ends with some unexpected drum 'n' bass action, and if the breakbeat tweaking is a little ham-fisted, the mournful Aphex horns underneath embody the record's true, dark heart. Good stuff, in short, but more misery next time, please, Mick; perhaps we should have written a bad review, to get the ball rolling." ~ David Murphy, Nightshift reviewer, April 2014. (www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net)
"It reminded me of Vangelis. It's better than your first album. :)" ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings and published The Wire Letters contributor concerning Meredith Monk. (www.subvertcentral.com)
"That's pretty out there man. I didn't dislike it, that's for sure, but the main thing I took from it is it was very adventurous in what it tries to do." ~ ASC on "Love Never Fails", producer mentioned by Joe Muggs in The Wire 2012 Rewind as breaking new ground. (www.auxiliarymusic.com)
"First impression: your music is very strong compositionally and sonically, very well made and beautifully executed. :)" ~ Pascal Savy, Fluid Radio.
"Yes I liked it. You've got a real talent there. I think you're an innovator." ~ Geoff Brooks PhD, clinical psychologist, hypnotherapist and Reiki healer.
"I like the mood of the release, which I would classify as darkly contemplative. It's always good to play to your strengths, so my recommendation would be to continue further down this path." ~ www.acloserlisten.com
"I like it :) Suddenly starts to get moody when the organ comes in." ~ Shiva, Bitrate Music on "With Aid Of The Assertive" [CD-R Bonus Track] (www.bitratemusic.com), attendant of Technicality raves in the ongoing jungle / drum 'n' bass revival.
"I thought is was nicely meandering without losing its focus." ~ Bob Macc on "Love Conquers All", jungle track in 4/4 and 5/4 time signature. (Outsider, Paradox Music, Subvert Central, Breakin, www.subvertmastering.com)
"Sounds like a good lead into a d'n'b track. The arrangement is very pleasant to me." ~ Nic TVG on "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors" percussion section. (www.pineconemoonshine.com)
"I like the part where the drums start to fall apart the best." ~ Nic TVG, Pinecone Moonshine label owner (Macc, Icarus et al) on "Love Conquers All".
"Nice ECM style album cover as well!" ~ James Sargeant, Moshka promoter, Oxford.
credits
released 02 March 2014
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, instruments and processing, except on "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors" where Mike Twelve contributes the middle part. All mastering by Foci's Left, except "Love Conquers All" which has additional mastering by Bob Macc (www.subvertmastering.com)
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, instruments and processing, except on "In Our Lives, There Have Been Many Terrors" where Mike Twelve contributes the middle part. All mastering by Foci's Left, except "Love Conquers All" which has additional mastering by Bob Macc (www.subvertmastering.com)
tags
license
all rights reserved
Foci's Left - Tara EP (Foci's Left EP 003)
Tara
"Moose" Buckingham, our 16 year old Colly / Alsatian cross, died on
January 9th 2014 of kidney failure. There was nothing more we could do,
it was her time. Me and my close family enjoyed 8 years with her. She
was a rescue dog from the RSPCA.
As a way to mark this loss cathartically, and as a tribute, I present "Tara EP", a four track chronological excursion of Tara into the afterlife ("Anything Becomes Possible With Time"), emotions in lament ("Non-Corrosive String Solution"), the memorandum ("For Tara"), and finally, my belief she may come back as a woman one day ("To The Woman With No Name"). This is an EP of very personal emotions, from the one who was ironically least close to her because of my own illness.
The EP is an inexpensive £3, being sold as a whole, as it is meant to be heard. 50% of proceeds will go to our local Animal Sanctuary shop, where "Moose" as she was infamously called every day (due to her appearance) was took for walks regularly.
I hope you enjoy the music. Here's to you Tara, hopefully we'll speak again someday.
SPECIAL OFFER
Order "Life In A Less Southern Town LP" on CD-R and "Tara EP" for £10. Email mbucki07 at hotmail dot co dot uk or send your Paypal payment to this address clearly labelled "Special offer" and I'll send both releases to you digitally. :)
REVIEWS
"It reminds me of early(ish) Pink Floyd :)" ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings on "Anything Becomes Possible With Time".
"My favourite artist at the moment...classic releases!" Simon Rametse, March 2014.
"i like it. i wonder what it would sound like if it gets a bit more complex. nice one anyway. " ~ logburner, Subvert Central forum on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".
"it's rhythmic very odd – it sounds as though everything is always slightly behind the beat – disturbing :)" ~ Jonathan Tait on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".
"I like it, very interesting, I'm going to show the rest of the gang and I let you know what everyone thinks." ~ Shiva, www.bitratemusic.com on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".
"It's nice. It sounds like an improvisation :)" ~ Jonathan Tait on "To The Woman With No Name".
credits
As a way to mark this loss cathartically, and as a tribute, I present "Tara EP", a four track chronological excursion of Tara into the afterlife ("Anything Becomes Possible With Time"), emotions in lament ("Non-Corrosive String Solution"), the memorandum ("For Tara"), and finally, my belief she may come back as a woman one day ("To The Woman With No Name"). This is an EP of very personal emotions, from the one who was ironically least close to her because of my own illness.
The EP is an inexpensive £3, being sold as a whole, as it is meant to be heard. 50% of proceeds will go to our local Animal Sanctuary shop, where "Moose" as she was infamously called every day (due to her appearance) was took for walks regularly.
I hope you enjoy the music. Here's to you Tara, hopefully we'll speak again someday.
SPECIAL OFFER
Order "Life In A Less Southern Town LP" on CD-R and "Tara EP" for £10. Email mbucki07 at hotmail dot co dot uk or send your Paypal payment to this address clearly labelled "Special offer" and I'll send both releases to you digitally. :)
REVIEWS
"It reminds me of early(ish) Pink Floyd :)" ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings on "Anything Becomes Possible With Time".
"My favourite artist at the moment...classic releases!" Simon Rametse, March 2014.
"i like it. i wonder what it would sound like if it gets a bit more complex. nice one anyway. " ~ logburner, Subvert Central forum on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".
"it's rhythmic very odd – it sounds as though everything is always slightly behind the beat – disturbing :)" ~ Jonathan Tait on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".
"I like it, very interesting, I'm going to show the rest of the gang and I let you know what everyone thinks." ~ Shiva, www.bitratemusic.com on "Non-Corrosive String Solution".
"It's nice. It sounds like an improvisation :)" ~ Jonathan Tait on "To The Woman With No Name".
credits
released 02 March 2014
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, piano, strings, processing and mastering, except "To The Woman With No Name" which is mastered by Bob Macc (www.subvertmastering.com)
Mick Robert Buckingham - all synths, piano, strings, processing and mastering, except "To The Woman With No Name" which is mastered by Bob Macc (www.subvertmastering.com)
tags
I, Mick
Robert Buckingham first met hypnotherapist and alternative
medicines/therapies specialist Geoff Brooks in 2010, when I was going
through a transition in diagnosis from bipolar and psychotic depression
to schizo-affective disorder. Within 1 session I felt really at ease and
liberated by Geoff's emotive techniques with positive affirmations and
anxiety disorders. He trains in imaginal realities, psychotherapy, dream
work, EFT (emotional freedom technique), hypnotherapy and Reiki
healing.
With 3 degrees with distinctions to his name, I was motivated by my deteriorating 2013 health to seek guidance from Geoff once again. After this particularly resonant opening session to the series - on the subject of dreams and activating their merits - Geoff commented since I was recording these sessions for my personal use if we could make them publically available to be bought on the internet. This not only increases Geoff's audience just by having audio online, but benefits both of us as we split any profits from downloads equally.
The price for the first 51 minute, carefully mastered (by myself) hypnosis session is £15, since Geoff's sessions, lasting roughly 90 minutes each, are £40 each. I hope this gives you a taster into the curated content discussed by me, Foci's Left and Geoff in the session, gives you an insight into what I want to create, a showcase of Geoff's remarkable skills in his respective fields, and maybe motivates you, if you are within reach of Swindon, UK, to look up the Shaftesbury Centre where he works to arrange a session of your own.
With 3 degrees with distinctions to his name, I was motivated by my deteriorating 2013 health to seek guidance from Geoff once again. After this particularly resonant opening session to the series - on the subject of dreams and activating their merits - Geoff commented since I was recording these sessions for my personal use if we could make them publically available to be bought on the internet. This not only increases Geoff's audience just by having audio online, but benefits both of us as we split any profits from downloads equally.
The price for the first 51 minute, carefully mastered (by myself) hypnosis session is £15, since Geoff's sessions, lasting roughly 90 minutes each, are £40 each. I hope this gives you a taster into the curated content discussed by me, Foci's Left and Geoff in the session, gives you an insight into what I want to create, a showcase of Geoff's remarkable skills in his respective fields, and maybe motivates you, if you are within reach of Swindon, UK, to look up the Shaftesbury Centre where he works to arrange a session of your own.
credits
released 05 November 2013
Mick Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left) provides base subject matter, Geoff Brooks (hypnotherapist) weaves a dialogue to New Age background music. Carefully mastered by Mick Robert Buckingham.
Image is a free online take by Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan of the coastline while she was on a US tour with her band. www.facebook.com/batforlashes
Mick Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left) provides base subject matter, Geoff Brooks (hypnotherapist) weaves a dialogue to New Age background music. Carefully mastered by Mick Robert Buckingham.
Image is a free online take by Bat For Lashes' Natasha Khan of the coastline while she was on a US tour with her band. www.facebook.com/batforlashes
Foci's Left - Dumping The Rock EP (Foci's Left EP 002)
"Dumping
The Rock" is a varied showcase of the Foci's Left sound, but aims
specifically to disperse any aggression of past releases toward
something more mellow and beautiful. You can map different tracks
together in a Foci's Left playlist with this release.
Artwork: "Cyclist" by Antonymes (Ian Hazeldine), who took this picture especially for me upon the release of his album "The License To Interpret Dreams".
Purchasers will receive a bonus Modern Classical piece called "The Calamities Of Confusion [21.12.12] (For Lata S.) in their download.
Total EP running time 13:52.
Artwork: "Cyclist" by Antonymes (Ian Hazeldine), who took this picture especially for me upon the release of his album "The License To Interpret Dreams".
Purchasers will receive a bonus Modern Classical piece called "The Calamities Of Confusion [21.12.12] (For Lata S.) in their download.
Total EP running time 13:52.
reviews
"This is breathtaking man" ~ 247, Futurepast Fanzine ed. on "Overdriven Terrain".
"Love it :)" ~ DJ Trax (Moving Shadow) on "Overdriven Terrain".
"Ah, 'The Calamities Of Confusion' - I like this one". ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings.
"Love it :)" ~ DJ Trax (Moving Shadow) on "Overdriven Terrain".
"Ah, 'The Calamities Of Confusion' - I like this one". ~ Jonathan Tait, Subvert Central Recordings.
credits
released 19 August 2013
All tracks written, produced and engineered by Mick Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left).
All tracks written, produced and engineered by Mick Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left).
tags
Foci's Left - Grumpy Love (Foci's Left LP 001)
Dedicated to my sister, the beautiful Joanne Buckingham. Modicum: to raise a smile. This is a soundtrack of my llife so far.
Artwork is "Leopards" by Niomi Jackson.
Artwork is "Leopards" by Niomi Jackson.
reviews
"Introducing ‘Not Seeing Reality’ – the wayward, often mysterious journey that defines the pathway of what we call life. For many, reality is totally dependent on individual perception. The notes begin their life in innocent infancy, but by their teens they have snaked their way into the more unruly, dissonant territory, interacting with one another until a harmonious chain reaction ensues; one that started off with a primary note – a single heartbeat, the survivor in the battle of selection – but one that quickly brings in a thousand more.
Reality is then able to shape-shift into a sporadic, sparse piano line, accompanied by a gorgeous wave of crimson synth. Only, a line doesn’t quite work; it is bloated enough to feel pregnant with the baby bump of melody, oozing out of the thicker line and then submerging the original, vulnerable piano with new life.
Foci’s Left is the alias of Fluid Radio’s own Mick Buckingham, a name that regular Fluid readers will know very well. Told as a chronological tale, Grumpy Love isn’t nearly as dishevelled or as depressed with the state of things past and present as its grumpy name would seem to suggest. It is, in fact, shrouded by heart-felt sensitivity and deep personality. It is very much the opposite of grumpy. After all, there are two words up there; the oh-so-thin space that divides the first word from the second, ‘love’, is close enough to be considered intimate.
Love never fails. Love conquers all.
Grumpy Love is a beautiful, personalized painting, left to hang at a slight angle on the uneven canvas of life, with both enjoyable and difficult moments that come to claim every man. When linked together, they reach a teenage crescendo. ‘Piano Paint’ introduces some beautiful synths that jut into the piano, coating it with an intoxicating harbour of nostalgia – the nostalgic element traces a radiated line of melody, as if the early memory on which it was based has physically escaped, deceiving what we all thought of as reality and instead containing itself within the music as a precautionary measure. It cocoons itself against the decline that age brings and the mood swing of swift change that can affect our recollections as one decade passes into another.
Saturated in the vintage, ambient warmth of pure tone, when the genre itself was in its infancy, the synths are a mesmerising serenade. It shares the same angelic timbre that made the early Brian Eno classic, Music For Airports, such a lovable listen. You can tell instantly that Grumpy Love is a deeply personal recording just from this synth alone. The later drums seem to propel the passages of life forward, with no pause for reminiscing. That comes later on, because Grumpy Love has some beautiful, open spaces ideal for reflection. Life may, at times, feel like ‘An Upwards Slope’, but listening to the music here is to know that the inner serenity of peaceful ease is always there. Always. Here, a thinner drone is disguised as Cupid himself, but the darker echoes of possible distress lie just beyond the doorway. It is the tense, anxious sound of the unknown; a place where dusty road-signs are always blank with unmarked destinations.
‘For Fluid’ is a loving piece of music that is as much a generous tribute as it is a personal reflection. Grumpy Love narrates the passage of life with painstaking thought. The older hand outlines the black tail of a nurtured note like the embrace between a newborn and a parent. In this picture, the thin brush gives life to the paint. It holds itself in the palmed trust of the future, while taking one last look back at the past – this is the final dedication." ~ James Catchpole, Fluid Radio
www.fluid-radio.co.uk/2013/09/focis-left/
"After the disconcerting dissonance of his last demo (FTAL Attraction), Foci's Left - the solo work of occasional Nightshift contributor Mick Buckingham - casts forth a full album set on a far less turbulent plane.
Nine tracks of stretched-out electro-acoustic ambient pianism and electronic minimalism drift and shift with soporific intent, microtonal drones morphing and gradually mutating with precision-restrained variation. Best of the pieces here is the drone-drift of "Decompress The Magnet", while it's marginally more imposing twin "An Upwards Slope" dovetails into it seamlessly. "Regurgitated Impulses" adds a necessary glitchy interlude, while "Piano Paint" is both light in tone and texture but random enough to be distracting.
Where the album occasionally falls down is a lack of brevity on a few of the tracks - "Piano Paint" for example has run its course long before it concludes - while "For Fluid" is anything but and simply sounds like Mick's plonking random keys on his piano, but beyond such lapses, "Grumpy Love" is a neat enough addition to the ambient drone cannon." ~ Ronan Munro, Nightshift Magazine ed.
(www.nightshift.oxfordmusic.net, October 2013)
"I find you on Bandcamp and I'm listening right now "Grumpy Love". This is strange music so far :) Dark soundscapes and atmospheres but lighten up with childish imagination coming from the piano playing (currently I'm at the ending of the second track). Interesting. " ~ Kristian, Noise For Blues For Noise.
"It is very...interesting :)
Well at times I really like the aesthetic and the goofiness of the sounds. Sometimes it is a tad too much for me I have to admit. Maybe it is something I have to listen to more carefully. But it is very inspiring at times." ~ Nils Frahm, Erased Tapes Records.
"It's pretty amazing. I really like 'Decompress The Magnet' and 'An Upwards Slope', they are my favourites. I'm going to have to burn it to CD for the car." ~ 247, Futurepast Fanzine ed.
"Well done Mick. Congrats!" ~ ASC
"I really like 'Decompress The Magnet' :D" ~ GlassBox
"'Decompress The Magnet' really is outstanding." ~ Roo Stercogburn, Omni Music.
subvertcentral.com/forum/showthread.php?59592-Foci-s-Left-Grumpy-Love-LP-(my-debut-album-OUT-NOW)
"It has a nice flow to it" ~ Roy Buckingham, my grandfather on "For Fluid".
"I am very impressed, the Grumpy Love LP, it really has a lot to offer. 'Decompress the Magnet' has a depth of creativity, emotion and inspiration resonating from it. 'An Upwards Slope' has a feeling of a eternal dose of mystery and passionate adventure of abstract life just breathing in and out through the song... I wish the LP had a fixed price on it because it is of good value. Brillliant work love it!" ~ Simon Bean, Omni Music via Facebook.
credits
released 19 May 2013
All tracks composed and recorded by Michael Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left), with additional production on "Decompress The Magnet" by Mike Twelve (Seconds Before Awakening / The Giraffe And The Tree).
All tracks composed and recorded by Michael Robert Buckingham (Foci's Left), with additional production on "Decompress The Magnet" by Mike Twelve (Seconds Before Awakening / The Giraffe And The Tree).
tags
license
all rights reserved.
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